Poster Abstracts in Word 29oct - American Museum of Natural History

Co-author: Walter Jetz, Yale University, New Haven, USAConservation problem or question: Tropical protected areas represent the cornerstone ofbiodiversity conservation and ecosystem maintenance, yet forest loss has been recorded inand adjacent to them. Drivers of forest loss include national governance, populationexpansion, and road density. However, drivers may be disparate and idiosyncratic withinand among countries. Here, we examine the relative effects of encroachment drivers in andaround tropical reserves.Research methods: Using several independently derived high-resolution remotely sensedland-cover data, we quantify forest encroachment in and 50km buffer distance, as well astheir hypothesized drivers across at least 50 countries and among four regions. By buildingmulti-level, multi-regional and multi-predictor path models, the extent of anthropogenicactivities at two distinct administrative levels (reserve and nation) of forest encroachmentare elucidated.Relevance to conservation: Our findings will advance our understanding of the local,regional and global human encroachment pressures on tropical forest at protected areasacross the tropics with the goal of developing more viable tropical forest policies.BASELINES AND TEA LANDSCAPES IN THE NILGIRIS HILLS, INDIAJARED MARGULIESUniversity of OxfordOxford, United KingdomMasters first yearjared.margulies@keble.ox.ac.ukConservation problem or question: My research will help detail the trajectory of landscapechanges and agriculture intensification in the Nilgiris Hills, as well as biodiversitytransformations since the introduction of tea as a cash crop in the 19th Century.Establishing biodiversity baselines of an agriculture landscape is a novel approach toinvestigating how tea production has impacted local and regional landscapes andecosystems.Research methods: I am utilizing a combination of historical records (found both in Oxfordas well as local Indian institutions) and stakeholder interviews to establish biodiversity andagricultural baselines for the tea plantation landscapes of the Nilgiris Hills, India. My aim isto integrate long-term accounts and information with modern data, making use ofknowledge accumulated about these landscapes through time.Relevance to conservation: The Nilgiris Hills are an important biodiversity landscape,especially for several endangered mammal species, yet much of the landscape has beenaltered by agriculture. Tea is an important crop to the South Indian economy, and so I hopemy research will help inform the transition towards more wildlife and environmentallyfriendly tea production that concurrently secures local livelihoods.HABITAT CHOICE BY BIRDS IN COFFEE AGROFORESTRY LANDSCAPESMELISSA MARKColumbia University, Department of Ecology, Evolution & Environmental Biology (E3B)New York, New York USAPh.D.completedmark.melissa@gmail.comConservation problem or question: Most of the evidence for shade coffee as an alternativehabitat for birds comes from surveys alone. Information on habitat choice, reproduction,and survival in modified landscapes is necessary to determine if sustainable populations canbe maintained in agrofroestry landscapes. Human modifications to tropical forests can resultin ecological traps or population sinks.